we are currently at the begining of the soccer season, coming into the season with a very strong team. The only problem is we have players dropping left and right due to injuries, most commonly hip flexor, and groin. A couple others like a foot injury (bone), and a torn ACL.
I attribute all of these injuries to volume (too much), and incorrect/inadequet wu/cooldown.
We start off the practice with a very short jog, some high knees thrown in there, then immediately go to static stretching, then some progressive style work, but mostly we just right into high speeds.
Our coach’s philosophy is to run us until we get better, which fits in with traditional methods.
I myself alter things so these workouts are less deadly to my body, more dynamic wus, cooldown again post workout, and recovery protocols outside of practice.
Not if, but how should I approach my coach (not insulting i hope), and what things are the most important to change.
wow, i just got home from soccer training, and I had the exact same predicament… Im not impressed. My team just got our asses run into the ground with two 30min halves, and that was only half the practise
I’m sure players are going to start dropping with injuries sooner or later. Im pretty sure there was no team warm up (i went in early and had my own) no warm down (again, my own), and i doubt the rest of the team knows about post meals or recovery protocols. (but I cant really blame the athletes as I didnt know about it all either 6months ago)
doesnt it make you mad though? those…traditional coaching philosophies. Otherwise, i cant really help you, approaching a coach (as an athlete) and asking to reconsider his training method is a doozy!
Good luck though, sounds like your on the right track otherwise.
Man i can’t even tell yall how many times i have been in the same situation with my past soccer teams . The old coaching philosophy of “more is better” and “no pain no gain” is what ruins teams (esp. during preseason camp). I can tell you one thing though…if you are doing the same amount and types of training that my old soccer team did during preseason camp, you can expect to see many more of your teammates end up with injuries that will inevitably weaken your team big time. I wish these soccer and football coaches would wake up. They complain that the players come into camp “in bad shape” and that this is the reason for all of the injuries…but these are the same players that i see working and preparing for the season all summer long. These coaches refuse to accept that their training philosophy is absurd.
3 a day practices in 100+ degree heat for two weeks straight with only one day off each week is not going to prepare a team to win. Especially when there are max intensity sprints at the end of each practice (again, 3 practices a day). Muscles, tendons and ligaments simply cannot handle that. Forget about the CNS. Its gone after day 3 at the latest. Recipe for disaster
Here is the problem with approaching your coach: He/She is the only person who determines your play time. If you insult him (even by accident), your season is toast. I do not think it is worth it. Either find a team with a better coach or deal with the practices.
If you end up dealing with the practices:
-Fake a hammy pull, and tell your coach that you doctor said you needed to warm up more. (This also might allow you to pick your battles with the crazy volume). If your training requirements are coming from a medical professional (actually get your doctor to write a note), the coach might be required to take it more seriously (it won’t help your team, but it is better than nothing).
lol, i think were playing on the same team!? anyways, I also forgot to consider that it is still try-outs for my soccer squad, so possibly the new coach is just checking out all the players to see if they can even handle it or not. But still, if its going to injure athletes, there must be a more optimal method in determining who can make the team or not.
Im guessing/hoping, that in season the training sessions 3 times/week will be toned down, especially friday and monday nights if we are going to be playing saturday and sunday. A nice tempo practise monday (after the weekend games) would be sweet!
I have been our full time coach for 1 month now ( surviving !!! ) I had this problem not as a player but as an assistant. It is important not to be a university prick and insult the big man, but when players are getting fried and you know the cause of it…
The way I did it was I’m close with a few of the players as they train with me and not on the team program and (dare I say as a result) are the best athletes on the squad. They’ll accept anything I say about their training as gospel.
I dropped their static stretching (pre), have them doing dynamic stretching in the morning and in training just do joint mobility and progressive activation drills. They did this stayed healthy/got better and word slowly gets around.
There is a little more to it like…they had to pretend to stretch when in the circle (funny),not go flat out all day and take contrast showers afterwards.
A couple days later my coach finally got feed up with it, by now 3 players on cruches (+ 1 of the coaches) and half of the team with some sort of tweak, strain, etc. He asked me and my track buddy (we did track instead of spring soccer) if we were lifting maintaince rite now (during soccer season) and he says thats why we don’t have injuries.
So now me and my friend are leading the lifting sessions, and we also talked him into letting us lead the warmups. talk about a change.
In my case the teams injuires finally lead to the training change. Hope things work out for you guys as good as they did for me.
my experience with soccer having been given a
try out with the toronto blizzards @17 so i know my soccer, can i suggest limit time with deep soccer cleats and rough surface.
why u ask, when feet tire-out the hole body follows suit.
and make sure shoes are fitted properly, toe box is of utmost importance…
